This invention relates to a hose reel for use in a mobile sewer cleaning machine. More particularly, this invention relates to a hose reel which can carry two hoses thereon, each selectively operable to receive and discharge fluid under presure.
Present sewer cleaning machines generally utilize a high pressure hose coiled on a hose reel having a cleaning nozzle on the end thereof. The hose reel is usually mounted for rotation at the rear of a truck and receives water under pressure from an engine driven pump to flush the sewer free of debris. These components must be designed so that the sewer cleaner is capable of cleaning the most severely obstructed pipes. Thus, usually a hose of one inch in diameter is utilized with a pump, engine and nozzle to provide 60 gallons of water per minute at about 1600 psi. It has been found that such operation will clear heavy blockages of sand, gravel and the like.
For the normally encountered less severe blockages, it can generally be said that a lesser volume of water would be needed to clean the pipe, yet designs according to the prior art, as just described, do not account for this but rather provide for operation only at 60 gallons per minute at 1,600 psi, thereby wasting a great deal of water at the unnecessary higher capacity. While machines could be and have been provided which operate only at lesser capacities, these do not have the capability of cleaning severe blockages and are therefore not a totally desirable solution.
The hose reels utilized by these inefficient prior art designs have also created additional problems. These reels, consisting of a drum and two end plates are subjected to a great deal of force when the hose is pressurized. In order to keep the weight and the cost of the reel at a minimum, the end plates are preferably designed of reinforced sheet metal but by so doing, they are subject to damage each and every time the hose suddenly expands due to pressurization thereof.
In addition, numerous of the working components of the reel are housed in the drum, itself, and a means of access to these components must be available. To this end, most drums have an aperture therein which exposes some of these components should maintenance or adjustment be necessary. However, if these apertures are large enough to permit facile servicing to the internal components, the interruption in the drum surface can be too large causing problems in the proper high pressure efficient operation of the hose reel.